Museum Collections
ORIGINAL BUILDING - Main Floor
ART GALLERY
A display of Viborg-area artists includes oil paintings, wood carvings, photography, water colors, pottery, porcelain painting, ceramics, metal sculptures and intricate and beautiful sewing skills items.
Extensive displays of heirlooms, vintage articles, photographs, documents, and other items in display cases purchased by area families of the region for their personal collections.
FAMILY DISPLAY ROOM
SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES
Displays featuring promotional items and photographs related to the villages & communities surrounding Viborg - Hooker, Center Point, Freya, Spring Valley, and Swan Lake.
A donated assortment of over 100 Kodak cameras representing each decade of the 20th century.
KODAK CAMERA COLLECTION
Charles Dickens-style lighted London Christmas village (over 100 pieces), gold-trimmed Christmas hymn plates, manger sets, and traditional & Danish decorated trees adorn the Christmas room. Lighted stars line the ceiling, adding a soft glow to the room.
CHRISTMAS ROOM
Art Deco stained glass windows; pulpits, chairs & other altar items; theater seats & pew; vintage pump organ, spinet piano & music cabinet; photos, hymn books, Danish Bibles and church directories highlight the chapel furnishings. A Danish ship replica reflects the Scandinavian tradition of a Viking vessel suspended from the ceiling of churches and historic Catholic cathedrals.
CHAPEL OF RELIGIOUS ARTIFACTS
TOOTS' TREASURE TROVE
A room filled with many vintage and newer display cabinets containing: porcelain & glass plates, bowls, & other tableware, china, & setting pieces, knick-knacks, silver service pieces, vases, and hand-painted articles... all donated by our major patron, Alphie "Toots" (Larson) Peterson.
Vintage table, Danish cookbooks, cupboard, cook stove, icebox, dishes, appliances, pots & pans, crocks, coffee grinders, and more.
PIONEER KITCHEN
ORIGINAL BUILDING - Lower Level
"MEMORY LANE" MURAL
A 2-wall mural painted by the late local artist Greg Preheim tracing the rural historical landscape of the Viborg area from the time of sod huts and horse-drawn implements to the era of modern farm machinery.
TRIBUTE TO J. MERLE PETERSON
One of our major benefactors who did not live to see the museum become a reality is honored with items, documents, awards, and photographs from his long career as a salesman, business owner & operator, town developer, rural mail carrier, volunteer fire department chief, city councilman, mayor, and church leader.
Many old household & farm tools & implements; printing equipment (press, newspaper folder, & linotype); Daneville/Swan Lake City blacksmith table & tools; clothes washing machines, mangle, old irons & ironing boards; cream separators.
TOOLS AND IMPLEMENTS DISPLAY
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS AND DISPLAYS
Two pin-ball machines (one from the historic Spot Café) and a jukebox from The Sticks at Pearson Corner (12th & Plum); LP collection that includes 100’s of classical, operatic, & jazz recordings originally part of the collection of South Dakota Public Broadcasting; saddles, collars, rodeo photos & other equine-related items; South Dakota State Pork Show of Viborg memorabilia; Lund Theatre equipment; railroad items and much more.